"In fact," said Curly, now squeezing harder, "I got a good mind to kick you right in the seat of the pants. And keep kickin' till you fly right back to Mars." "Pain," said Chafnu. "Can release do?" "And what if I don't?" "Am in power yours," said the Martian. "You're goddam right. And I'm going to give you a little lesson in manners, you--" "_Curly!_" Huber came striding over fast, and the look on his face was sufficient to make the foreman drop both Martian and sandwich. "Gee, boss, I--" "Never mind!" Huber thundered. "You had the chance. Now you're getting your walking papers! Get out of here, Curly! Get out of here now!" "But Mr. Huber--" "I said _beat it_! You're not the foreman around here any more. And in case you want to know who your successor is, take a good look!" Huber pointed a shaking finger at Chafnu, who bowed his head modestly. * * * * * "... and here it is, folks! The big one! The top one! The melody that swept the Solar System! You've proved that you love it. All the disc jockey requests, all the record sales, all the juke-box half-dollars have shown that, once more, for the forty-first week in a row--the number one tune on your hit parade is--" "_Melancholy!_" "But don't get excited, folks! Because I'm _not_ going to play it for you! I'm going to spin it all for myself--and you can just sit there and drool! And if anybody wants to fire me for it, let 'em go ahead and see if I care! Heh, heh, heh--_Ulp!_" * * * * * Woolsey, of the U.S. Department of Labor, zipped up his brief case and went over to the office window. He looked outside at the Capitol building, but the location permitted only a fractional view of the impressive edifice. Anyway, the sun was shining brightly and the grass was green. The man sitting in the chair facing his desk recalled his presence with a polite cough. "Oh," said Woolsey, turning around. "Sorry. Mind's wandering, I guess." "I know how you feel, Mr. Woolsey. My job is getting me down, too. Can't seem to get interested in the newspaper any more. Just the thought of working irritates me." Woolsey sat down, humming softly to himself. He toyed with a paper clip, then started to bend it out of shape. "But I guess I better get the story," sighed the man in the chair. "Boss will give me hell otherwise. Although," he added, "he seems to care about working even less than I do." "Yes," said Woolsey abstractedly. "My, it certainly is a nice day. Damn shame to be indoors on a day like this." "What say we go for a walk?" asked the reporter. "We can take a stroll around the fountain. We can do our business just as well." "Splendid idea!" said Woolsey. "This place is getting on my nerves." Outside, the Assistant Labor Secretary said: